Reinforced insole for shoes



June 6, 1950 J. F. DANIELS REINFORCED INSOLE FOR SHOES Filed April 1, 1948 James Frank/m Danie/s INVEN TOR.

Patented June 6, 1950 UNITED STATES' PATIENT. OFFICE,

2,510,560 REINFORCED INSOLE Fort snoEs James Franklin Daniels, Greenfield, Ohio Application April 1, 1948, Serial No. 18,349

This invention relates to ways and means whereby a relatively narrow shank of a littleway or so-called cement process shoe is sufiiciently stiffened and thus reinforced to render the shank sturdy and strong and to retain the entire shoe in good shape and against deformation.

'The use of metallic reinforcing members in arched shanks is not, of course, new. In fact, various modes of manufacturing have been adopted whereby the shank and heel portions of insoles are shaped and held, by reinforcing means, to conform to wanted contours provided therefor on a predetermined or given last. Reference may be made, for example, to the reinforced insole of Horatio S. Lyness, 2,195,490 dated April 2, 1940.

An object of my invention is to structurally, functionally and otherwise improve on women's shoes, by incorporating in the shank novel and practical stiifening means, the thus improved and refined shank serving to provide a well balanced shoe which is not likely to buckle, warp or otherwise lose the comforting shape provided by the manufacturer.

Another object of my invention is to provide shank building and stabilizing means which, while primarily adapted for use in new shoes, may also be used to advantage and resultfully in rebuilt shoes, such as those taken for repair to local shoemakers and so-called repair shops.

More specifically, novelty is predicated, on the one hand, on a unique large sized metal insert, which serves as a form and reliable shank brace,

the same being wider than those commonly used, Y

and being distinct in that the forward end portion is properly offset and spread transversely to provide a stress and strain equalizing head, the latter being wedge-shaped in configuration.

Additional novelty is thought to reside in a carefully designed leather binder, which is yokeshaped and which surrounds and confines said brace and also provides a satisfactory foundation for attachment of the outsole.

Furthermore and in a combined sense, a significant and outstandingly important aspect of the invention has to do with the aforementioned metal insert, constituting the stated brace, said brace being appreciably wider than prior art types known to me and being especially new in that it has its forward end to provide the stated Wedge-shaped head, in conjunction with the marginally bordering fillet-like hinder, the two, the binder and brace shaping and stabilizing the insole and, at the same time, providing the desired foundation for the outsole. 1 Other objects and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following description and the accompanying illustrative drawings.

In the drawings;

1 Claim. (01. 3676) Figure 1 is an inverted perspective view showing a fragmentary portion of a last in broken lines and illustrating the insole, shank stabilizing brace, and complemental fillet-like binder substantially surrounding and maintaining the braceQin place; Figure '2is a central longitudinal sectional view taken on the plane of the line 22 of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Figure 3 is a perspective View of the adaptorbinderper se;

Figure 4 is a cross section on the line 4-4 of Figure 1; i

Figure 5 is a plan View of the shank brace per se.'

Referring now to the drawings by distinguishing reference characters, the reference letter A denotes a wooden or equivalent last having applied thereto an insole B equipped with my reinforcing improvements; namely, the metal reinforcing shank brace C and a complemental leather yoke or binder D. The latter part, which is. sometimes referred to as an outsole foundation'strip, is of leather and is conveniently identified, as a unit, in the present disclosure as aj -brace retaining yoke, on' the one hand, and insole reinforcing binder on the other hand. The latter is of appropriate cross sectional form, length, and breadth. It is not new in the art, however, to situate or seat a brace or equivalent stiffener in a recess or pocket provided by a leather or equivalent retainer and therefore the invention is directed primarily to the construction and form of said parts C and D in combination with an insole.

The brace comprises a metal or equivalent plate 1; which in practice is of a length that the forward end terminates near the ball area of the sole portion 8. of the insole, the rear end terminating within the region of the seat area 9 of, the heel portion of said insole. The metal plate is bowed transversely as shown in Figured and formed with a ridge [0 for rigidity. The'rearheel attached end is notched on opposite sides as at II where it is also provided with nail holes to accommodate such attache ing nails I2. Then, in addition said rear end portion is bifurcated and the furcations are de noted by the numerals l3 and I4 and these provide a suitable crotch to accommodate an extra nail l5. With the nails [2 in place the nail [5 may either be removed or left in, as desired.

The fore portion of my brace is distinct in that it is bevelled to feather edge formation as indircated at I6 and the entire end portion is widenedv and fanned out to provide a substan-- tially wedge-shaped head ll. This head not permanently attached to the insole. 'When the brace is first attached to the insole, small nails are employed and both ends of the brace are 3 nailed down. Then, the nails at the head end are removed and the head is free to shift and adapt itself to the coacting surfaces of the insole.

The complemental and closelycoacting insole edge binder is denoted by the numeral 6 and is a strip of leather or equivalent material. The strip is preferably in one piece but it could be made up in sections. In any event it is in the form of a yoke of elongated style and includes" a bight portion [8 to circumscribe the heel ofthe insole and longitudinal reaches l9 and?!) which extend along longitudinal edge portions of the heel and edge portions of the shank of the insole. The reach 20 is slightlylonger than the reach l9 and b h eac t m i t n evel e r m ties 21 and 22. The end por ion zg sthe inner one of thetwo reaches; The intermediate sur faces of the reaches are bevelled or charnfered as at 23 to provide the desired contoursas illustrated in Figure 1; When the yoke is stitched 01" glued in place on the insole it provides the con-' touring effects shown and a'ls'o the outsole surfaces provide stable foundations for mounting and attaching of the outsole (not shown). Viewed otherwise the yoke defines a pocket into which the brace is fitted, not so snugly, but sufli c iently snug that it will not needlessly shift about in relation to the insole. I

In practice I start the job by first laying out and cutting the insole to the size and pattern desired. Secondly, I then out Q ut a hm i and finish the yoke-like binder so that it extends, when applied, from ball to seat of said insole. The binder fits with requisite nicety and conforms to outer marginal edges of the insole, as shown. Third, a shank brace is chosen to proportionately match the insole and binder and is carefully centered and nailed, at both ends, to the insole. Incidentally, the nails (not shown) at the wedge-shaped end are rernoved, leaving thelatter free of directattachment to said insole. Next, the binder is either cemented or sewed in place with its outer perimeter edges mating and {hatching with correspdl ding edges of the heel and shank portions of the insole. After the in sole is mounted on the wooden last, the free tip e 21 and 22 and o ter edges 23 of the median portions of the longitudinal reaches I 9 and 206i Said binder are bevelled to the feather edg formations illustrated, The eoi i iete insole as: semblage may be readily put together on a regu: lar last by using a curved needle stitching (not shown). It will be noticed that the leather; binder curves with and conforms to insole and thus paves the way forsatisfatq y usage of the wide,- wedge-shaped, head carried bythe forward end of the metal brace. Note the locations and points of anchorage of the tips or terminals of said adaptor binder thus insuring a smooth fin ished fiat lay of theoverlying portions of the out sole (not shown). Then, too, by so situating said terminals, undesirable rocking of the completed shoe is virtually eliminated. Further, since the rear or dorsal end of the brace fits well back under the heel and is securely anchored, the shoe heelwill net kick back whil'e walking.

I find that if the adaptor binder is not properly contoured so that the end portions 2| and 22 diverge, effective results are not assured. By

having the end portions 21 and 22 of proper re a tive lengths in respect to the respective inner'and outer marginal edge portions of the shank arid by having the ends 2| and 22 merge in a manner to meet the coacting surfaces of the insole, abrupt projections are avoided and hence when the outsole is attached irregularities and socalled bumps are eliminated. It will be noted that the brace goes well back under the heel and this rnakes anchorage firm and prevents the heel from kicking back when worn. It is preferred that the yoke D be sewed in place to minimize the danger of the sole pulling loose or buckling, caused from rust in the event that the shoe gets wet or damp while being worn.

These units D may be cut out by hand by the Cobblers or ma be better cut out by pattern or dies on a machine such as is used by present day manufacturers of shoe weltings.

A careful consideration of the foregoing description in conjunction with the invention as illustrated in the drawings will enable the reader to obtain a clear understanding and impression of the alleged features of merit and novelty Suf fic'ient to clarify the construction of the inven tion as hereinafter claimed.

Minor changes in shape, size, materials and rearrangement of parts may be resorted to in actual practice so long as no departure is made from the invention as claimed.

I-Iaving described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

A reinforced insole for incorporation in a shoe comprising, an insole, a rigid metal stiffening brace mounted on the shank portion of said in sole, said brace extending at its forward end to the ball portion of the insole and iitending at its rearward endto the seat area of the heel por-; tion of the insole the rearward end portion of said brace being bifurcated and provided adiacent said bifurcated portions with fastening's' se curing same to the corresponding portion of the insole, the forward end of said brace being graduany increased in width and terminating in a wedge-shaped head, said head contacting but being free of direct connection with said insole, and a yoke shap'ed leather binding strip so 1*- imposed on and fastened around the outer in rginal edge portions of said insole, said strip being of appreciably small cross-section and having its bight portion spaced rearwardly from the tenninals of the bifurcated portion of said brace, the limb portions of said strip having their inner marginal edges in contact with the major poitions f the longitudinal edges of said brace holding the brace in place and against displaceiiient in res ect to the insole, the free ends of said reaches being disposed in diverging relation and projecting beyond the wedge-shaped teaa and being beveled to feather-edged thinness, and the outlying marginal edge of the iiite .fnediate portions of said reaches being outwardly chairifered to feather-fedgethinnss, v g

JAMES FRANKLIN DANIELS.

REFERENCES orriii) The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number I Name Date 116,744 ackard July l, 1371 217,761 Winn July 22, 137125 662,378 Knipe -l 'Nov. 20, 19!!!) 1,739,541 Block nee. 1'1, 1929 1,343,721 Hiss Feb. 2, 1932 2,099,394 Gordon Nov. 16,- 1937 

